[Kansas City, Mo.] Seventy-seven Big Bob’s Flooring Outlet owners and their managers gathered here last month to formulate an aggressive three-year plan that will more than quadruple the group’s membership while increasing the number of its locations sevenfold.

“Big Bob’s is in a ‘perfect storm’ scenario for us to expand and take market share,” said Big Bob’s CEO and founder Dave Elyachar. “The consumer wants to buy, but they want to buy value. Who better than us to offer the consumer perceived value?”

Launched here in 1983 as a used carpet outlet, Big Bob’s has evolved into a 24 member, 35 locations national franchise offering a full array of hard surfaces and soft surfaces while maintaining its reputation for unbeatable prices through the clever purchasing of overstocked items and a relentless campaign of quirky but memorable TV ads. Now, the goal is to expand to 125 members and 250 locations by 2016 and achieve $500 million in annual sales by 2032 or sooner, according to Elyachar.

“Now is the time to take the risk and gamble on growth,” he said. “Commercial real estate is cheaper today than it will be for the rest of our lives. Because of what happened in 2007, there is a glutton of highly qualified people on the street prepared to work for a lot less and manufacturers are almost ready to give us product on consignment.”

Scott Appel, a successful multi-family Pennsylvania contractor with locations in Pittsburgh, Philadelphia and Harrisburg, opened his first Big Bob’s three months ago in Harrisburg to begin his foray into the residential market — the only option that allowed him to compete with the Home Depot down the block, he said.

“I did a lot of research and in the end Big Bob’s is the only real play on the residential outlet format. I’m literally competing against Home Depot and winning. Even people with money want a deal. The recession changed the whole game,” said Appel.

The new Harrisburg location is one of five Big Bob’s featuring a new female-friendly Galleria showroom that more closely resembles a Costco, with neat tall-standing carpet rolls and organized displays, according to general manager Brian Nelson.

“The Galleria concept is driven more towards today’s consumer. When you walk in, it screams value but it’s clean and organized. I see Big Bob’s as the next big thing in the industry. We have very low overhead and we attract a lot more traffic with the value of our closeout products and running lines,” he said.

The Harrisburg location pulled in $80,000 in sales during its third month of operations.

Former CCA Global president Vinnie Virga has already opened three Big Bob’s Flooring Outlets since signing on with the group in 2011. He said he’s planning on opening five Gallerias within the next 12 months.

“The economy being off has been good for my business because Big Bob’s provides unbeatable value; it’s the best kept secret in the industry,” he said. “I’m taking the Big Bob’s model and turning it into a cookie cutter and banging them out. Real estate is cheaper than it’s ever been in my life.”

Albuquerque, N.M.-based Ray’s Flooring Specials, which focuses on the commercial and new home construction markets, is jumping on the opportunity to be the first Big Bob’s to open in that state.

“Right now, 10 percent of our sales are residential retail and that’s just from referral business because everyone knows us,” said Ray’s CFO Martin Lucero. “I’ve talked to a lot of big players in the industry and they all recommend Big Bob’s as the way to maximize residential opportunities. Big Bob’s is unique with their advertising and considered a real value that can go up against Home Depot and Lowe’s.”

Big Bob’s corporate office is currently seeking “high quality” prospects in 50 key markets, according to Scott Perron, president, Big Bob’s. “For our plan to be successful we need to increase our size. But to serve our members we have to attract the best,” he said.

Advertising, technology

While Big Bob’s membership consists of successful independent entrepreneurs, part of the appeal of being a franchisee is being able to capitalize on 30 years of advertising, brand building and knowledge, said Appel.

“I don’t know a thing about advertising and never sold to the public consumer before but Big Bob’s has already invested in successful ads that are proven to work. I just choose which ads I want to run and focus on selling,” he said.

At last month’s planning meeting Big Bob’s also brought in supplier sales representatives as well as industry software providers and experts from the real estate and financial sectors to share insider secrets to help its memberships gain an advantage.

“If you’re still paying for samples then shame on you,” said Casey Johnson, CEO of LVT supplier Happy Feet International. “Ask for more. Suppliers should be giving you free samples so you can sell their products and get out of this recession.”

The same advantage was offered in technology as well. Dave Dumolin, director of sales at RFMS, said, “You need to capture as much data as you can. Handwritten tickets are not capturing data. You need to know what your No. 1 laminate product is, your No. 1 vendor is and what’s your best-selling carpet weight by the ounce. You need software that provides analysis and meaning to data otherwise you’re working in the dark.”